MLS Rookie of the Year Award

In the United States, Major League Soccer (MLS) has handed out a Rookie of the Year Award since its inception in 1996. MLS, as opposed to other American sports leagues like Major League Baseball, only designates a player as a rookie if the player has had no prior professional experience. So, for example, although Taylor Twellman finished second in MVP voting in 2002, he was ineligible for the Rookie of the Year Award because he had played on the reserve team of 1860 Munich.

Winners

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	Draft Pick #	Draft Class
1996	Ralston, SteveSteve Ralston	Midfielder	United States	Tampa Bay Mutiny	18 !18	1996 MLS College Draft
1997	Duhaney, MikeMike Duhaney	Defender	United States	Tampa Bay Mutiny	87 !87	1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft
1998	Olsen, BenBen Olsen	Midfielder	United States	D.C. United	!N/A	Project-40
1999	Heaps, JayJay Heaps	Defender	United States	Miami Fusion	2 !2	1999 MLS College Draft
2000	Bocanegra, CarlosCarlos Bocanegra	Defender	United States	Chicago Fire	4 !4	2000 MLS SuperDraft
2001	Faria, RodrigoRodrigo Faria	Forward	Brazil	MetroStars	13 !13	2001 MLS SuperDraft
2002	Martino, KyleKyle Martino	Midfielder	United States	Columbus Crew	8 !8	2002 MLS SuperDraft
2003	Ralph, DamaniDamani Ralph	Forward	Jamaica	Chicago Fire	18 !18	2003 MLS SuperDraft
2004	Dempsey, ClintClint Dempsey	Midfielder	United States	New England Revolution	8 !8	2004 MLS SuperDraft
2005	Parkhurst, MichaelMichael Parkhurst	Defender	United States	New England Revolution	9 !9	2005 MLS SuperDraft
2006	Bornstein, JonathanJonathan Bornstein	Defender	United States	Chivas USA	37 !37	2006 MLS SuperDraft
2007	Edu, MauriceMaurice Edu	Midfielder	United States	Toronto FC	1 !1	2007 MLS SuperDraft
2008	Franklin, SeanSean Franklin	Defender	United States	Los Angeles Galaxy	4 !4	2008 MLS SuperDraft
2009	Gonzalez, OmarOmar Gonzalez	Defender	United States	Los Angeles Galaxy	3 !3	2009 MLS SuperDraft
2010	Najar, AndyAndy Najar	Midfielder	Honduras	D.C. United	!N/A	D.C. United Academy
2011	Sapong, C. J.C. J. Sapong	Forward	United States	Sporting Kansas City	!10	2011 MLS SuperDraft

Wins by playing position

Position	Number of winners
Defender	7
Midfielder	6
Forward	3
Goalkeeper	0

Wins by nationality

Nationality	Number of winners
United States	13
Brazil	1
Honduras	1
Jamaica	1

Wins by team

Team	Number of winners
Chicago Fire	2
D.C. United	2
Los Angeles Galaxy	2
New England Revolution	2
Tampa Bay Mutiny	2
Chivas USA	1
Columbus Crew	1
MetroStars	1
Miami Fusion	1
Sporting Kansas City	1
Toronto FC	1